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1 University of Tennessee, Knoxville Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works School of Information Sciences October 1998 An Exploratory Study of User Searching of the World Wide Web: A Holistic Approach Carol Tenopir University of Tennessee - Knoxville, Peiling Wang University of Tennessee - Knoxville Elizabeth Layman David Penniman Shawn Collins Follow this and additional works at: Part of the Library and Information Science Commons Recommended Citation Tenopir, Carol; Wang, Peiling; Layman, Elizabeth; Penniman, David; and Collins, Shawn, "An Exploratory Study of User Searching of the World Wide Web: A Holistic Approach" (1998). School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works. This Presentation is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Information Sciences at Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works by an authorized administrator of Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact

2 An Exploratory Study of User Searching of the World Wide Web: A Holistic Approach Peiling Wang, Carol Tenopir, Elizabeth Layman, David Pennirnan, Shawn Collins University of Tennessee, Knoxville Abstract Presents preliminary results of an exploratory study of users' interaction with Web resources in ltnding factual information using a holistic approach. The purpose of this study is two-fold: (1) to understand Web users' behaviors and need; (2) to test a methodology for studying users' interaction with the Web. A process-tracing technique, together with tests of cognitive style (Embedded Figure Test), anxiety levels (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory), ard self-report computer experience, provided data on how users interact with the Web in the process of finding factual information. Affective state can be affected by Web search results, especially how the person feels about tie results. Cognitive styles and time spend on searches seems to be correlated for certain ty'pe of questions. Introduction Since tie advent of tie Internet, more and more end-users are directly connected to vast information resources. The World Wide Web (Web) has revolutionized end-user searching for information; users are more than ever aware of their information needs and electronic information resources surrounding them. However, using the Web to hnd relevant information can be a frustrating and disappointing experience. Web resources are significantly different from traditional sources available in libraries and in online databases because resources are networked, heterogeneous, and in multimedia format. Digital data on the Web are physically stored anywhere in the world and accessible via the Internet. The networked digital information systems no longer have homogeneous collections, nor do they have well-defined boundaries. There is a vast array of formats: text, hypertext, image, sound, video, animation, etc. The organizational schemes and access methods across the Web resources are also diverse. Users are as heterogeneous as resources and the majority of users are perpetual novices with diverse subject background and different levels of information and computer literacy. Toward Every-Citizen Interfaces: the Nation's Information Infrastructure Steering Committee, National Research Council has published a report drawing from a two-day workshop held in August 1996 to identify research issues and directions in cleveloping interfaces for everyone. Technologies on such interfaces are referred to as everycitizen interfaces (ECIs) (National Research Council, 1997). The report lists tie desired characters of ECIs, such as they shoulcl tn easy to underslarul, easy to learn, error toleranl, flexible and adaptable, appropriate an^d effeclive for the tusk. Advances in technology are rcquired to implement such interfaces. As the highest-priority, the committee recommenc.is research on understanding the problems and the needs basic to effective humanrnachine interaction and measuring the effectiveness of technologies when used by humans in problem-solving situations. To date, there is little reported research on real users' interactions with Web resources (hereafter user-web interactions). This study is designed to observe how users search for factual information on the Web. It focuses on individual differences, which might affect searching. The purpose of this study is two-fold: (1) to understand the process of user-web interaction; (2) to test a methodology to study Web users. The ultimate goal is to suggest principles for effective Web information retrieval systems and user-web interfaces. Relevant Literature 389

3 ASIS '98 Contributed papers _ Evaluating Services Studies of online searching behavior 6ave been documented for decades. The earliest end-user information retrieval (IR) systems are online public access catalogs (opacs), which are free and widely available remotely. Researchers have devoted 20 years of efforts to study the searching behaviors of opac users. But, Borgman (1996a) argues' "online calalogs continue to be difficult to use, beluse their design does not incorporate sufficient underslanding of searching a%) and "we need to incorporate more knowledge of searching behavior into the design of these systems" (p. 502). some results of the studies of opacs certainly can contribure ro rtre worrd wide web design (Larson et ar., 1996). Earlier studies of intormation retrieval focused on the systems and technologies, but a growing body of literature indicates the shift of research in this field. More and more studies take user-liented aiproaches such as sens making, cognitive and behavior approaches to investigate the complex nature of user,s information behaviors (Bates, 1993a, 1993b, 1996; Betkin, Oddy &- Brooks, lgg2; gorg*ann, er at., 1995; Dervin, 1992;Eilis,1992; Fidel, 1987; Ingwerden, 1996; Kuhlthau, 1993; Flarrer, 1992; Mlchionini, l9g9). Nahl and.fenopir (1996) have demonstrated the importance of the affective and sensorimotor domains for novices in addition to the cognitive elements of online searching. The web is certainly an imporlant new channel for information. Several studies of the users and web searching focused on search engines, interfaces, and successes (chu, 1996; Din & Marchionini, 1gg6; Meghabghab & Meghabghab,1996; Shneiderman etal.,799l; Pollock and Hockley, 1997; wang and pouchard, 1997). Their findings suggested that various web search engines function differently and users are not very successful in searching for informat'ion on the web: users have difficulties with synrax and semandcs of difrerent search engines; more than 30vo of the searches resurt in zero-hit outcomes. To study user-web interactions, a closely related field is human-computer interaction (HCI). A workshop sponsored by the National Science Foundation Interactive Systems Program proposed new directions in HCI education and research (strong, 1994). one of the research priorities identified by the workshop is the need to underst'and "what people actually clo, want to rlo, and coulct do with computing systems,... integrated and communication colnputing systems" (p.26). The workshop also pointed out ttrat appropriate methodologies are needed to go beyond current domain-specihc studies. This study attempts to look at some of fte issues idenrihert by fte ucla-nsf Social Aspects of Digital Libraries workshop (Borgman, 1996b). At this workshop, one of three foci for further research is the neeo for user-centered studies' Some of tre identified topics are heterogeneous populations, situated use in a multimedia environmenl and information literacy skills needed for digital librariei. ir{any participants emphasized the needs ro explore end-users' information behavior in digital environments and to develop appropriate methods to collect real-world pata beyond traditional user-evaluation methods, such as field studies, video, and direct observation. In a comprehensive review, Bishop & Srarr (1996) conclucle, "we need to understand more about which aspecrs of searching behavior are universal and which are situation-specific, if we are to design information systems to serve an increasingly heterogeneous user population with increaiingly diverse set of informadon needs', (p. 361). A growing body of research is examining user behavior in interaciing with the Internet (and, in particular, the web) to find information, but this research is still in the early stages (Te-nopir, l99g). The cognitive and holistic approaches to user behaviors require researchers to observe the processes of users, interactions, not merely the outcomes of a process. A process-tracing technique is needed to capture the real process when it happens- An online monitoring method tlrat capturei the specific actions an individual takes during a search process is of particular udlity in studlng usersi behavior in interacting with compurcrized syst'ems' This had been documented by severalresearchers (Bishop and Slarr, 1996; Borgman, Hersh, & Hiller, 1996; Marchionini et al',1994; Penniman and Dominick, 1980; Rice and Borgmaa, l9g3). Bishop & Starr (1996) also call for integration and extension of traditional methods, and developing n.* methods to study users in digital environments' They rtote a number of large-scale digital library projects have incorporated multiple methods' but their work or description of the methods has often been ieported and used only internal ly (p.362). Although computer monitoring data have been collected to study opac and IR systems (Borgman et ai., 1996; Marchionini et al-' 1994; Penniman and Dominick, 1980; Rice, 1gg0; Rice and Borgman, 1gg3), we are unable to find reported studies of user-web interactions using monitoring data at individual users, level beyond site- 390

4 ASiS '98 Contributed Papers - Evaluatins Services tracking. A few studies in progress are capturing Internet users' t-ransaction logs using internally developed proprietary programs. The need to design and develop an appropriate metiod is of importance in studying the behavior of Web users. Conceptual Framework and Research Questions User-Web interaction can be seen as (1) a communication process consisting of a series of transactions btween the user and the system; (2) an information-processing and problem-solving process in which the user makes decisions based on the interpretation of information presented to him/her. The assumption is that not all the users will search the Web in the same way, therefore individual differencrs may result in difficulties in using the Web to find information. This study focused on tlree factors that might affect users' interaction with the Web: a) computer and search experience; b) cognitive style in terms of an individual's information processing style; and c) affective states in terms of the anxiety level before and after a search. Computer and information retrieval experience can be measured by a questionnaire about how long and how frequent the users have been using Windows, IR systems, and the Web. Cognitive style is an individual's characteristic and self-consistent modes of functioning in cognitive activities, such as perception and problem solving. Dimensions of cognitive style can be measured by standard tests; in this srudy we used rhe Embedded Figures test (EFT) individually administered (Witkin, 1971). In the EFT, an individual is asked to locate a previously seen simple figure within a larger complex itgure, which embeds the simple hgure. The test is scored with average solution time per trial based on solving 12 figures (with a 3-minute limit per trial). The EFT score identifies a person's perceptual tendency by providing a score in terms of fielddependence and held-independence. For relatively held-dependent individuals (those who scored higher in EFT), the Web is expected to be a much more difltcult environment. Affective slates are a person's feelings that might affect one's performance in a task. On the other hand, a person's feeling may also be affected by performing a task. In this study, affective states before and after searching were measured using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), which consists of two forms: S-anxiety and T- anxiety (Spielberger, 1983). T-anxiety indicates an individual's general tendency of feelings; S-anxiety indicates an individual's feelings at tlat moment. A person's affective states may influence how he/she searches the Web, while self-sarisfaction after tlle search may also change his/her affective sutes, especially S-anxiety. One of the major difficulties in studying Web users is the Iack of methods for collecting real-world data. Searching Web resources is a highly interactive cognitive process tlat cannot be understood simply by comparing search outcomes with users' questions. Interview or survey data can only provide a partial picture of the interaction because users may not be aware of or able to recollect what they did during the process. This study is exploratory because there is no ready equipment and technique to observe ttre users. A process-tracing technique will be designed and tested. The following research questions are raised: 1. How successful are end-users in searching for information? 2. Do users who have completed library and information core courses perform better? 3. What is the nature of the roles that computer and search experiences, cognitive styles, and affective states play in searching the Web? 4. Are the propose<l data collecting techniques appropriate for studying Web users? Methodology This study observes user's interaction in a near natural setting. No treatment or control was imposed on the pa-rticipants. A process-tracing technique was designed to capture search processes and record concurrent 391

5 ASIS '98 Contributed papers - Evaluatins Services verbalizalion of thoughts during the search. Standard tests and questionnaires were used to collect. data on cognitive domain (computer and search experiences and information processing style) and affective domain (emotional states). Proc e ss. trac in g Tec h n i q u e The proposed methcxj [akes advanlages of advanced digital technologies t.o record indiviclual users' processes and behaviors as they interact with the Web for informalion. Specifically, the transactions wittr timestamps and cued verbal reports on pausing behavior were recorded (ideally nonverbal language during user-web interactions should also be captured). To recortj keysrokes and screen actions, a monitorrng program was installed to create a log fitle. The advantages of using monitoring d.rta are that they are accurate, unobtrusive, longitudinal, transactional, temporal, and can be automatically collected and processed (the computer OoeJtne work!). But there are also some disadvantages, such as open to interpretation (although accurate), privacy concerns, and the overwhelming amount of data tiat can be difhcult to manage. Both rerospeclive and concurren[ verbal reports have been used to study cognitive processes in the last two decades (Ericsson and Simon, 1993). Verbal data reveal human information processing and thoughts that underlie behavior and help to interpret nonverbal activities more accurately. It is understandable that searchers can only verbalize a subset of tltoughts occurring during the interaction because some thoughts are difficult to verbalize. If the monitoring data can capture all the actions and moves users make, partial verbalization will provide additional information about their thoughts, which help to reveal users' limitations and problems at specific points during the search. The equipment was set up to record the following process clata: (1) sites visireil with time stamp in a transaction log file; (2) continuous screen shots with time stamp on a video tape; (3) verbalization of thoughts recorded on the same video tape. Participants Twenty-four graduate students enrollecl in a Masters program in information sciences voluntarily participated in this study in September and October They consist of two groups: (1) fourteen participants are entry-level students who just started the program and are more like general users of the Web; (2) ten participants are advanced-level students or graduates who have completed the core curriculum and are more experienced searchers. Table 1. Participants'computer and search experience (N=24) Computer Use IR systems Use WWW Use Mean SD Min. Max. Months Times/mon. Months I Times/mon Months I Times/mon l.l 34 )1 31 1/ /\ t )>l lt

6 ASIS '98 Contributed Papers - Evaluating Services Table 2. Partic ' cognitive st and affective state EFT Scorex STAI** (seconds) Mean SD Min. Max & ra ' n & 32. tv r6.30 t r " 1^ T-Anxiet " g.2g r * EFT: Embedded Figure Test monitored individually; the score is measured by total response time in seconds divided total number of cards. *x STAI: State-Trait Anxiety Inventory by Speilberger, & EFI for male: mean SD 17.65: for female: mean SD # S-Anxiety for male: mean SD 9.53; for female: SD T-Anxiety for male: mean SD 8.64; for female: SD 9.67 Search Questions Participants were given the following two factual search questions to find information on the Web. They were not guided or assisted on any of the searches. aa (l) (2) This summer, a faculty member at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville submitted a full grant proposal to tie National Science Foundation through the FastJ-ane, the agency's new electronic proposal system. It was announced in the Research Good News. Can you find the news for me? [You may use this sheet for scrap paperl Each year, the ti.s. Census Bureau reports on the projections of national population. I am interested in the most current estimat.e for the population of the United States in [You may use this sheet for scrap paperl Procedure The participants were scheduled to perform the searches at their convenience. After signing a consent form, each searcher followed the same procedure. The searcher: a e filled in pretest questionnaires to measure level of information skills and affective srarcs (Sute-Anxiety and Trait-Anxiety). rook an individually administered Embedded Figure Test (EFT) about cognitive styles (12 questions with a 3- minute cut-off time on each). was given the first question sheet and asked to find the answer. (The Web browser was set at home state (the university's homepage) and tlre searcher was reminded to think aloud during the search.) hlled in two questionnaires when the searcher completed the question (or decided to stop). These queslionnaires measured salisfaction of the search result and comments and affective state (Srarc-Anxiety). was given tle second question sheet and asked to find the answer. (The Web browser was on the page where the first search ended and the searcher was again reminded to think aloud during the search.) fille<l in two questionnaires when the searcher completed the question or decided to stop. These questionnaires measured satisfaction of the search result and comments and affective state (State-Anxiety). Results As described in the Methcdology section, there are two parts of data collected in this study. The quantitative data describe the search outcomes uid the searcher's characteristics in affective, cognitive and computer and search experience domains. The qualitative data describe the search processes and the searchers' thoughts during the interaction. Transcribing the qualitative dau requires labor-inleusive work, which is stili in progress. Therefore, the preliminary results reported here frcus on the descriptive features of quantitative variables and their 393

7 ASIS '98 Contributed papers _ Evaluating Services ':3'::;;n,#':;#,#i;;';,;::,:::*ntirving how search outcomererares to affecrive state, cosniti,,e sryre, How successful were the searchers? l' FIas the searcher found a correct answerand how does he/she feel about the result? Tabre 3 indicates that for question I about half of the participants failed to find a correct *r*.r. Three of them gave up after some effort. of the nine who found an incorrect answer, three of orem were very rur. rrrey found the right information. For question 2 all participants claimed to have found the correct unr*ar. po. tr,ose who found tle right information (N=22)' ha.lf of them were highly confident about their search, tle ofier harf were mocreratery confident. The two who found incorrect answers also fert moderatery conficient about their results. Tatrle 3. Search results and Post-search confi clence level t-search confidence Moderate high Moderate low Low.-? uueslron Post-search conficf a (high) 3 (moderate hi N=22 N=2 2' How much tirne was spent on interacting with the system question? and how Table many.rires 4 indicates were visited fbr each search about l5 that dme tp"nion each question varied among the participants. In generar, - minutes for each questior, dnoug; they the deviation ro, q""rrio" r is much larger spent number of sites visitecl has a similar clistrib"ution for questions l'un; t. trran fbr The pearson question c.efficient 2. The respectively, indicating a high correlation is.93 between and.g9 the search time and visited sites. Table 4. Search Time and Sites Mean SD Ransr Question 1 Time (min.) No. of Sites Timc /min \ zs.tz t6 3, nst 9.79 n.46 3,39 rc.71 1ff":T:tffii#::i:'.:,,,tr#"":g,:iffiii'J:';:"jffborh search questions (rr = e3;rz= 8e). rherefore, 3' FIow is the searcher's fficlive slate chanled after the search? The change of state Anxiety revel as a result of ffiff't:r[:,y,:i iltr'j!:.}il1*"'ect'*i*' the sarne SrAI s-anxiety Form arter the,.l.n. rhe va]ue or A S-Anxiety - post_search S_Anxiety pre_search S_Anxiety Note: for question 2, Pre-search S-Anxiety = post_search S_Anxiety after question I 394 I-

8 ASIS '98 Contributed Papers - Evaluating Services of State Anxiet No change I SS SIESSCd More sfessed Range of change Mean SD L IJ 9-17 to to Do the two groups dffir significantly? One group of participants consists of entry-level students (N=14) who are more like tie general users of a university; the other group is advanced-level students (N=10) who had finished core library and information courses with special ffainins in DIALOG searching. It is tempting to hypotlesize that the advanced students will perform better than entry-level students in terms of more correct answer, less time (sites), and low anxiety. Fm question l, of the 14 entry-level students: 6 found the correct answer (42.9 V"),7 had an incorrect answer (50.0 %o), and 1 gave up (7.1 Vo).In question l, of tle 10 advanced-level students: 6 found the correct answer (60.0 Vo), 2 had an inconect answer (20.0 7o), and 2 gave up (20.0 Vo). For question 2 all found answers, but two from the entry-level group had incorrect answers. Their means are not. significantly different by t-test, although the advanced students actually spent more time on both questions (Table 6). able 6. rison of Search s Level in the m Ouestion I Ouestion 2 Change of Change of Time S-Anxiety Time S-Anxietv Entry-level (N=14) Advanced-level (N=10) Mean SD Ranp Mean SD Ranp How are lhe variables related? l l lt.1 4, There is not sufficient evidence to conclude that there is a significant difference between entry-level students and advanced-level students in this study. We will therefore treat the sample as a single sample rather than two groups to look at the factors that might affect searching. Statistical significance of correlation at the.01 level (2-tailed) is found between the following pairs of dependent and independent variables: (l) time on search I and EFT (r =.56); (2) time on search I and S-Anxiety afrer search.l (r =.JQ)' Q) S-Anxiety after and bfore searches (r1 =.63; rz -.78), Participants with higher EFT scores seemed to spend more time and get lost in the cyberspace for question number I, which involved more facets than question number 2. The two participants who spent 43 minutes and 57 minutes in question t have an EFT score 61 and 173 respectively. Significant relationship is not indicated between search timc and conxpuler and search experience (including Web search experience). Discussion and Conclusions 395

9 ASIS '98 Contributed papers _ Evaluating Services This paper presents the preliminary results of tlie quantitatiye part of an exploratory study of users searching of the Web. Further analysis of these quantitative data as well as the qualimrive data (still in ttre process of data transcribing) will be reported in forthcoming papers. The statistical analyses focus on the characterisrics of various variables under study. The interpretation of tiese analyses does not warrant generalized conclusions due to the uncontrolled setting and the relatively smajl sample. The population we studied was graduate leyel students in a library and information sciences program. This may be considered a group of early adopters of Web searching or at least people who are motivated to use the Web regularly as required by ttreir future profession. This group will be frequent users for their daily information services and will provide instructions to other users. Studying this user group can, however, provide insights into differences in interacting with Web systems. In the Conceptual Framework and Research Questions section, we raised several questions. Here, the last question will be addressed first. The methodology has been successfully implemented in the design of this study with a limited budget. It demonsrarcs the feasibility of collecting data on Web users' searching holistically by capturing processes and thoughts during the interactions. This study obtained rich information on several dimensions of ttre Web searching. However, due to the hnancial limit, this study was unable to record the continuous screen shots and concurrent verbalization directly in a digital format. The analysis of data therefore involves laborious ranscribing, which can be reduced if they are recorded directly in a computer hle rather than on videotapes. This also made collecting dala from a larger sample less feasible. Furt]rer development of t.echniques to support tt]is method is important for this line of research. As the results indicate, searchers in ttris study seemed to do better in question 2 (more correct answers and higher self-conhdence level after search), although they spent about the same amount of time in bottr searches. The cognitive style, specifrcally the field-dependence-independence dimension, might affect how an individual searches the Web. The fact that it correlates with search question I might indicate that searchers with a f,relddependent style have difficulties when a question has more dimensions or requires partitioning a sub.system from the networked space. Pa-rtitioning is important in Web searching because many general search engines either failed to index the information at lower levels of a Web site or will return huge postings of tirls. A close look at the questions may provide some insights. The frrst question can be answered from the homepage of the university where the study was conducted. If tie searcher has a conceptualization of partitioning the Web space, he/she would more likely start from the default homepage by either browsing or searching the local search engine. However, many searchers in this study used general search engines such as Yahoo and Excite. Compared with tie second question, the first quest.ion provided more cues that can be used to evaluate search results. Some of the problems are being unable to decide which facets should be included in the search, missing information on the page, and being satisfied with an answer without checking it against the question. These are the problems similar to those reported for end-users of IR systems. Affective states, specifically State Anxiety level, seemed to swing widely before and after tie searches (Table 5). A close look at the three searchers who gave up on the first question, reveals that two of them had a higher postsearch stress level (increased 7 and 16 points respectively) and one had a lower stress level (decreased 2). The other two who were noderately low in confidence about their answers also hacl higher post-search stress (increased 6 and 18 respectively). All of these five searchers had lower stress levels after hnishing the second search (the decrease ranged from 3 to 18 points), when their self-conficlence levels were either high or moderately high. Further analysis of searching prcrcess anrl searchers' verbalization can provide insights into the affective dimension in searching the Web. The following are t.entative conclusions: students who finishecl core courses (received intensive IR search training) are not necessary more effective or efficient on searching the Web. The searchers who spent more time on t-he Web seemed to visit more sites rather tian reading more et each site (tinte and sites are highly correlated). Most searchers se m to accept the first seemingly relevant answer wittrout further checking and verifying. The more field-dependent searchers terld to get lost on the Web while searchlng on questions that have more facets and require partitioning the Web. Affective state can be affected by Web search results, especially how the pe.rson feels about the search results. Further analysis of both sets of data will provide more understanding of our searchers in *ris study. 396

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Session F4E Research on the Influence of Computer Network Supported Cooperative Learning on Sentence Construction Skills of Elementary School Students Tzu-Hua Huang, Yuan-Chen Liu National Taipei University

AN OVERVIEW ON USING THE BSCW WEB-BASED PLATFORM IN THE FRAME OF THE FISTE PROJECT M. BÎZOI *, 1, G. GORGHIU 1 and A. M. SUDUC 1 1 Science of Systems, Automatics and Informatics Department, Valahia University